- Health and technology giants come together to create standards for digital passports for vaccination so people can prove they had a COVID-19 shot.
- Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, Cerner, Epic Systems and the Mayo Clinic are part of the vaccination initiative.
- These passports can be useful for boarding and going to work, school, grocery stores, live concerts and sporting events.
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Major companies, health organizations and non-profit organizations announced on Thursday morning that they are working together to create digital vaccination passports so that people can prove their COVID-19 vaccination status.
The Vaccination Credential Initiative – a coalition with Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, Cerner, Epic Systems and the Mayo Clinic – said it was developing technological standards to give people access to their vaccination records and verify they had their vaccine.
According to the VCI, people without smartphones can receive printed QR codes with the information.
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Virgin Atlantic, United Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Lufthansa and JetBlue said in December that they would accept a digital health pass called CommonPass as evidence of a negative COVID-19 test.
The pass was created by one of the members of the VCI, the Commons Project Foundation, and is designed to be an international standard. The initiative announced on Thursday is separate – and more ambitious.
“The goal of the vaccination initiative is to empower individuals with digital access to their vaccination records so they can use tools like CommonPass to safely return to travel, work, school and life while protecting their privacy,” Paul said. Meyer, the CEO of the Commons Project Foundation, a non-profit organization in Geneva, said in a press release.
“For some time, most of us will have to show negative COVID-19 tests or an updated vaccination status to perform the normal routine of our lives,” said Dr. Brad Perkins, the foundation’s chief medical officer, told The New York Times.
Perkins added that it would happen “whether it was boarding a plane and going to another country, whether it was going to work, to school, to the grocery store, to concerts or sporting events.”
There is no existing federal system for people to access their vaccination records online or set their vaccination status. The US government is giving people paper cards reminding them to get their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The British government is going to develop a health passport system developed by iProov, a biometric firm, and Mvine, a cyber security group, The Telegraph reported on Tuesday. The passport would be accessible via a free app and enable users to prove that they have been vaccinated.